Contemporary Treatments of the Seven Deadly Sins

Reading Aquinas, I found the vices to have revealing and illuminating power. By contrast, many voices in contemporary culture, unfortunately, dismiss, redefine, psychologize, or trivialize them.

Some dismiss the vices on the grounds that they are not moral problems at all. In a tract recently republished by NavPress, the Reverend James Stalker proclaims, “On the whole, I should be inclined to say, gluttony is a sin which the civilized man has outgrown; and there is not much need for referring to it “in the pulpit.” Francine Prose, likewise, confuses gluttony with feasting in her…